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Media groups seek access to Bonds jury questionnaires

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Ten news and media outlets asked a federal judge on Thursday to disclose the juror questionnaires in the upcoming perjury trial of baseball…

Posted on February 27, 2009

Ten news and media outlets asked a federal judge on Thursday to disclose the juror questionnaires in the upcoming perjury trial of baseball star Barry Bonds, reports the Associated Press.

The AP, along with a broad coalition including ESPN, Hearst Corp, The New York Times Co., The Los Angeles Times, Time Inc., and the MediaNews Group, filed a motion for access to the questionnaires that potential jurors will fill out once the trial begins Monday. The forms are an element of the jury-selection process, which is presumed open, the attorneys for the media argued, and as such the questionnaires too should be available to the public.

Neither Bonds' lawyers nor the case prosecutors have asked the court to seal the documents, the AP reported, but U.S. District Judge Susan Illston said last week that the questionnaires should not be open.

The forms include dozens of questions pertaining to "potential jurors' opinion of Bonds and whether they've followed the issue of steroid use in professional sports," in the AP's words, as well as routine identifying information such as name, age and criminal past.

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